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Each week on the Food Chain, we ask a chef to describe a dish he or she recently enjoyed. The chef who prepared the dish responds and then picks his or her own memorable meal. On and on it goes. Last week, Yank Sing co-owner Vera Chan-Waller discussed uni risotto with Masa Takayama. Your pick, Takayama!

“It’s so moist, with smoky flavor. The slow-roast makes it so soft and tender. The smoked meat doesn’t need sauce. I crave it every three months, or when I have the time to travel up there. The takeout does not satisfy the craving; it’s not the same.”
Founder John Stage responds:

“We start with a pork shoulder. We give it a good rubdown with spices — kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic, onion, chiles. It’s a dry marinade for 24 hours, and we slow-cook it for twelve hours so the pork pulls real easy off the bone. You’re getting the spice, smoke, pure porky goodness.The magic lies in the actual barbecue process, but I do like a little sauce, and we put about an ounce of sauce for the ten ounces of meat. It was about fifteen years ago when I named it. It’s really two mounds of pork, and I just thought, ‘Man, that’s a big-ass pork plate right there.’ It’s kind of lost its shock value over the years.”